Current-collecting device for electric railways



(No Model.)

R. M. HUNTER.

CURRENT COLLECTING DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

Patented Feb. 26, 1889.

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UiTnn STATES PATENT tlrricn,

RUDOLPH M. l-IITN'TIR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CURRENT-COLLECTING DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent 'No. 398,402, dated February 26, 1889.

Application filed June '7, 188 8.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH M. HUNTER, of the city and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in GurrentCollecting Devices for Electric Railways, (Case (34,) of which the following is a specification.

My invent-ion has reference to electric railways; and it consists in certain improvements set forth in the following specification, and shown in the accompanying drawings, which. form part thereof.

This application (Case G-l) is in part a division, D, of my applications Serial No. 214E309, of September 23, 1886, and No. 239,930,015 June 1, 1887, the latter being a division of the former.

This invention relates to electric railways and with particular reference to the means for supplying electric current to a traveling electrically propelled vehicle from a sus pended conductor preferably arranged above the car or at a higher elevation than the roof of the car, so as to be out of reach of persons on the sidewalk or roadway.

The essential features of my invention may be stated as follows, to wit: A suspended conductor is properly insulated from the ground and arranged parallel with the railway, and

the car is provided with a suitable contact devicesuch as a grooved wheel-which presses upon the under side of the conductor cable or arm, and thus makes a traveling or running contact therewith, the relation between the conductor and collector being such that either or both may be permitted to move vertically to compensate for any variations in the parallelism of the line-conductor.

It is immaterial to my invention what the details of construction for accomplishing this may be, as my invention, broadly considered, is for the under cont-act of the conductor, and in which the weight of the conductor is employed directly or indirectly to insure proper contact. I

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation showing an electric railway embodying my invention in which the conductor is counterbalanced and rises and falls as the collector on the car passes beneath it. Fig. 2 is a similar view in which the conductor is not coun- $erial No. 276,362. (No model.)

terbalanced. Fig. 3 is a cross section oi the railway shown in Fig. Fig. l is a side elevation of another modification of my invention in which the collector is made movable. Fig. 5 is an. enlarged side elevation of the collector shown in Fig. 'i. Fig. (5 is a cross-section of the conductor, and shows an end view of the collector of Fig. 5 and Fig. 7 is another modification showing a side elevation, with part in section, of a verticallymovable collector.

Referring to the different figures of the drawings, A is the railway, which may be the return-conductor, if desired, if but a single overhead conductor is used.

Bis the electrically-propelled vehicle or car.

C is the electric motor thereon, and H the motor-circuit on the car.

G is the current-collecting device on the car.

K are the supporting-posts arranged along the railway, and D is the suspended con ductor.

Now referring to Fig. 1 specifically we find or float, and at intervals in its length is connected by branch conductors f with a supplyconductor F,which may be properly insulated throughout its entire length. The collector G on the car B consists of a grooved wheel, I, located under the conductor D and receiving the same in its groove and through the weight of the conductor insuring a good electrical and guiding contact. This wheel I is supported in an arm or frame, J, attached to the car or vehicle and moving with it. I is carried along under the conductor D and at all times makes a close upward contact with it. The current received by wheel -I is conveyed to the motorcircuit H and by it to the motor 0.

In Figs. 2 and 3 the cable D is not counterbalanced, but simply hangs in brackets L=on the posts K and in contact with a supply-conductor, F. In this case when the car moves along, the roller I of the collector being higher than the brackets L lifts the conductor D out of the brackets, and after passing allows it to fall back again. In this case, as in that of Fig. 1, the cable rests upon the collecting wheel and insures a positive under contact.

The wheel IOC Vhen the cable settles down into its brackets, it becomes electrically connected with the supply-conductor F by the brackets.

In Fig. 4 I have the conductor D, supported in any suitable manner, hung as in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, or simply suspended without counterbalancing, and the collector G, composed as before of the roller I and arm J, but in this case it is pivoted at M, and is provided with a spring, N, for causing the roller I to press upward against the under side of the conductor D, receiving part of its weight and compensating for any variations in its height. The collector-wheel I and its support J' are free to rotate on a vertical axis, on, in the plate or bracket 0 on the car-body. This will allow of lateral play to the collector as well as vertical play, and the grooved roller will insure the collector vibrating laterally to follow the lateral excessive variations in the conductor, and also allow of reversing the collector for propelling the car in the opposite direction. If desired, the arm J may be extended above the conductor, as at g, Figs. 5 and 6, and a small roller or projection, 1 is used to prevent the roller I accidentally leaving the conductor when running fast or passing switches, &c. Normally this roller or projection 'i would not touch the conductor.

By making the conductor flexible it may rise and fall to suit irregularities in the level of the collector-wheel. For instance, it the spring of the collector-arm would raise the collector-wheel only to a given distance before losing its power, the flexibility of the conductor would cause it to move down, to remain in contact with the collector-wheel.

In Fig. 7 I have the roller I pressed upward by a spring, P, acting upon the rod or frame J, guided in a bracket, 0, on the car, and with freedom of vertical and rotary motion on a vertical axis.

In. all of these. constructions, which aredifferent types of the broad features of my invention, there is a roller 'contact or collector carried by the carand pressing against the under side of the conductor, so that the 0011- ductor has not to support the weight of the collector. It will be further observed that the conductor D maybe supported from above,

as in the case of Figs. 1, 4, and 7, which is' very advantageous in crossings and switches where considerable difficulty is now experienced when the collector has to extend past the conductor, so as to make contact with its side most distant from the car or the collectorconnection with the car.

In this invention the collector-support and collector, per as, are between the conductor and car.

It is evident that when the collector shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 is used in connection with the balanced conductor shown in Fig. 1, as above stated, not only does the spring of the collector act to support the conductor D and cause the collector-wheel to follow its under side, but the counterbalancing of the conductor reduces the weight upon the collector and allows of a heavy conductor being used. I11 practice the collector-spring may be sufficient to lift the conductor as it passes under it; or, broadly considered, the conductor may be more or less rigid and the collector follows its contour. The conductor D is made continuous and supported at intervals.

The collector-support may be positively hinged on a transverse axis to the car-body, directly or indirectly, and the spring acts to cause the grooved collector-wheel to follow the conductor by the rotary vibration of its support. (See Fig. 4.)

By my improvement the collector-wheel is connected in line with the car, so that the pull is substantiallyin the plane of the travel of the wheel; and hence there is no tendency for the wheel to leave the track under normal conditions.

The suspended conductor is preferably at a higher level than either the vehicle or collector, and the conductor should also be like a rod, cable, or wire-that is to say, circular in cross-sectionand fit down into the groove of the collector wheel or roller, and thereby be guided by the wheel, and the wheel and collector as awhole are guided by the cond netor. lector-wheel is supported by a rearwardly-extending arm, the free end of which is movable to or from the conductor, as well as laterally.

Any matters herein set out but not claimed form subject-matter of my applications hereinbefore mentioned, or of my application No. 290,302 of 1888.

In this application I do not claim the specific construction of collector shown in Figs. 4 to 6, as that forms subject-matter of a divisional application filed November 8,1888, and serially numbered 290,302.

Having now described my invention, whatv I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an electric railway, the combination of the rails, a flexible and suspended bared workingconductor arranged above the rails, insulated supports therefor, a traveling electrically-propelled vehicle, an electric motor on said vehicle, and a current-collecting device carried by the vehicle, over which the working conductor passes, consisting of a single upwardly extending arm arranged above the car and carrying upon. its end a loosely-journaled grooved contact-roller, the said collector-roller and its arm being substantially in the plane of its travel and passing longitudinally under the conductor during the travel of the vehicle, the distance from the road-bed to the collector-roller being greater than the normal distance from the road-bed to the conductor;

2. In an electric railway, the combination of a flexible and suspended bared workingconductor, insulated supports therefor, a trav eling electric vehicle, an electric motor on In Figs. 4 and 5 it is seen that the col-,

said vehicle, and a currentcollecting device consisting of a grooved wheel carried by the vehicle over which the working-conductor passes and by which it is guided, the said collector-wheel raising the conductor and passing longitudinally under it during the travel of the vehicle.

I11 an electric railway, the combination of a flexible and suspended bared workingconductor, insulated supports therefor, a tra veling electric vehicle, an electric motor on said vehicle, a current-collecting device car ried by the vehicle over which the workingconductor passes, the said collector raising the conductor and passing longitudinally under it during the travel of the vehicle,a supply-conductor to supply electric current to said working-conductor, and branch conductors connecting the supply and working conductors at intervals.

4. In an electric railway, a suspended and movable working-conductor, in combination with suitable counterbalancing devices to counterbalance the weight of the conductor, whereby itmaybe easily raised or lowered, a traveling vehicle, an electric motor on said vehicle, and a collecting device carried by said vehicle and making contact with said workingconductor and adapted to raise the workingconductor as it passes longitudinallybeneath the same.

5. In an electric railway, a suspended workcounterbalancing devices to counterbalance the weight of the conductor, whereby it may ning in contact with the under side of the working-conductor.

6. In an electric railway, the combination of the rails, a suspended bared working-conductor formed of a continuous rod, wire, or cable, supported at intervals by auxiliary i11- sulated supports, a tray'eling vehicle, an electric motor to propel said vehicle, and a current-collecting device between said vehicle and continuous conductor, consisting of a long upwardly-extending arm connected to the vehicle at its bottom, and supporting at its top a grooved collecting-wheel adapted to run in contact with the under side of the conductor.

7. The combination of a railway, a suspended cable or conducting-wire at a distance above the roadway, a traveling electricallypropelled vehicle, a grooved roller-contact pressing upon. the under side of the cable or wire guiding said wire in its groove, and a support for said grooved roller carried by the car and extending upwardly, whereby the collector and car are located at a lower level than the conductor and the latter is guided by the collector and retained in posit-ion thereon by its weight.

8. The combination of a suspended c011- ductor located above the railway-bed, an electr'ically-propelled vehicle, a grooved collector-wheel pressing upon the under side of the conductor, and an arm or support extending from the vehicle rearward and support- K ing a grooved collector-wheel or contact delug-conductor, in combination with suitable vice in contact with the conductor.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

RUDOLPH M. HUNTER.

Witnesses:

ERNEST HOWARD HUNTER, E. M. BRECKINREED. 

